Overview
- On Friday the four governments issued a joint public statement calling on Israel to halt settlement growth in the occupied West Bank and declaring such settlements illegal under international law.
- They urged Israel to hold violent settlers to account and to investigate allegations of excessive force by Israeli security personnel in West Bank incidents.
- The statement singled out the E1 area between East Jerusalem and Maale Adumim as especially damaging because construction there could sever north‑south Palestinian territory.
- The countries warned companies not to bid on settlement construction projects, saying firms face legal exposure and reputational harm, and referenced recent EU moves to target violent settlers with sanctions.
- The warning builds on a pattern of rising West Bank violence since the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack and further tensions this year; more than 500,000 Israelis now live in settlements the international community largely regards as illegal and Palestinian daily life and movement are increasingly disrupted.